Russian authorities have told of arresting Nikita Nearonov, a 22 year old computer geek/financial analyst who they suspect of being the mastermind behind the Blue Whale suicide game which involved teen girls killing themselves.

Local media reported the ‘social media curator’ allegedly grooming ten girls for death operation mainly from his Moscow area home.

So heightened had the ‘game’ been, which fed off underage girl’s insecurities and depression, Nearonov is accused of having some 40 teens actively participating as members in his social media group. Following the Nearonov’s arrest, detectives were seeking to identify other potential victims reported the dailymail.

As part of the Blue Whale game, operators relied on ‘brainwashing’ vulnerable teens over a period of 50 days while urging them to complete arduous tasks before being commanded to take their own lives.

Police reports described Nearonov as a ‘very smart’ computer geek who believed teenagers were ‘wicked’ and did ‘not deserve to live’.

Officers believe Nearonov was a ‘major and dangerous’ perpetrator of the social media ‘game’, although Nearonov has not confessed and insists he was just being ‘friendly’ to the girls. Adding in another instance, ‘He thinks: ‘They were hopeless, I was only helping them’.’

In two of the ten cases for which he has been charged, girls aged 14 and 17 are known to have survived. If convicted he faces up to six years in jail relating to these alleged victims.

In eight other new cases, detectives declined to say whether suspected victims were dead or alive.

He is in detention in Chelyabinsk – a city where one of his victims lived – pending investigations.

Added Asharin, ‘Experts have proved that during his communication to a girl from Chelyabinsk region he used methods of psychiatric pressure, and as a result he inflicted a serious health damage to the victim.

‘The girl developed a psychiatric failure – her suicidal thoughts became stronger.

‘She needed medical treatment.’

He has been charged in this case with ‘pushing her to suicide’ and ‘inflicting serious healthy damage’.

Similar charges have been brought over a case in Amur region.

‘The enormous amount of online material found by police leaves no doubts that this young man was involved in all this and that he did it for a purpose,’ said Asharin.

Around two dozen Russian suicides are officially linked to the trend, with politicians and media suggesting the figure running into the hundreds.

Media outlet, Novaya Gazetaalleged that of 130 suicides of children in Russia between November 2015 and April 2016 almost all were ‘members of one group or other on the internet’.